For a Master List of Participants please see Democracy Rising Conference

Margaret Thatcher’s slogan, “There is no alternative,” was a declaration of war that installed the horrors of neoliberal policies that have eroded and systematically undermined democratic and public-based projects for more than 30 years. The global financial crisis of 2008 exposed these neoliberal policies that have paved the way for the rise of an untouchable oligarchical class whose top 80 members now possess more wealth than the bottom half of the world’s population. It is now abundantly clear that neoliberalism has accelerated radical inequality and at the same time forced the world to conform to their unquestionable, anti-democratic policies, lest even greater disasters befall us. Faced with no alternative, on their terms, in 2011 a new series of insurrections began to emerge from the Occupy movement to Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, to Spain, Ireland, and Greece. The recent historic victory of Syriza brings forth the message that citizens must decide their own future, and thus the reassertion of the primacy of politics takes place again in the world. In the wake of Syriza’s victory and the hope it articulates for the world, we propose a conference with academics and activists from the birthplace of democracy, Athens, Greece. The purpose of the conference is to bring together intellectuals and activists to think through and propose strategic alternatives for democracy and its future.

Thematics: Feminist Struggles Under Capitalism Space and Capital Class Struggles in Latin America Struggles for the Commons Incarceration, Capitalism, and Race The Precarious and the Precariat Ecosocialism, Global Justice, and Climate Change Marxist Histories and Theories Capitalist Crisis: Theories and Experiences Neoliberalism and Austerity Measures Philosophy and Political Struggles The Global Debt Crisis Capitalism & Education Democracy & Activism European Union & the Euro-Zone The Rise of Fascism in Europe Neoliberalism and Globalization Uniting the Workers with the Intelligentsia The Hope of Left Governance The Rise of Podemos in Spain Organizing Locally & Globally Inequality & Democracy

Outcome: The Editors of the Insurrections Series at Columbia University Press have agreed to consider supporting the proceedings for publication. Some papers will also be considered for GCAS’s new Journal via the GCAS Press as well as for Knowledge Cultures Journal.

Note Location Change: University of Athens, Center of Theoretical Sciences, Solonos 57, Athens. The conference will be very easy to access simply take the Underground Metro (subway) “Red-Line” (Line 2) to the Panepistimio Stop. The conference will be located just to the right behind the main University of Athens Neo-Classical building.